Synthesis and catalytic activity of hybrid metal/silicon nanocomposites

In this Letter we demonstrate that hydrogen‐terminated porous silicon (PSi) layers and powders can serve as highly efficient reductive templates for noble metal salts. The reduction results in metal nanoparticle (NP) formation in the pores of PSi. Gold NP formation has been monitored in‐situ by measuring the plasmon resonance response. Pt NPs, formed in the PSi matrix, were investigated by transmission electron microscopy and energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis. Furthermore, hybrid Pt/PSi nanocomposites exhibit a high catalytic activity for CO oxidation.

     

(DFS)-spaces of holomorphic functions invariant under differentiation

Let be a bounded convex domain, A^−∞(G) be the (DFS)-space of all holomorphic functions of polynomial growth on G and A^∞(G) be the Fréchet space of C^∞-functions on closure of G which are holomorphic on G. With the help of the Laplace transform we describe the strong dual of A^−∞(G) and prove that A^−∞(G) is the unique (DFS)-space H such that the space A^∞(G) is contained in H, H is embedded continuously in A^−∞(G) and H is invariant under differentiation.     

Nonlinear optical effects related to saturable and reverse saturable absorption by subphthalocyanines at 532 nm

It is found that both effects of saturable absorption and reverse saturable absorption are obtained with a solution of subphthalocyanine at 532 nm depending on the intensity of 9 ns laser pulses; saturable absorption occurs at lower intensity levels whereas the reverse effect prevails at higher levels; contrary to expectations, subphthalocyanines can behave as reverse saturable absorbers at 532 nm, despite the high linear absorption at this wavelength; data have been fitted with a five-level model which considers three consecutive electronic transitions with absorption cross-section values of 1.4 x 10(-16), 1.0 x 10(-16) and 40 x 10(-16) cm(2), respectively.     

Effects of irradiation parameters on metal surface erosion by pulsed ion beams

Potential application of high-power ion beams of submicrosecond and microsecond durations with the initial particle energy from 50 to 1000 keV and power density 10⁷–10⁹ W/cm² to ensure metal surface erosion are investigated. Evaporation is treated as a major erosion mechanism and the erosion coefficient is taken as an efficiency indicator. Dependences of the erosion coefficients of several metals on beam parameters obtained via calculations using a technique based on the solution of thermal conductivity equation with phase transitions are presented. The ion species, their initial energy, current pulse duration and power density are used as the beam parameters controlling the result of irradiation. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 8, pp. 49–54, August, 2007.     

Adsorptive stripping voltammetry of selected cephalosporin antibiotics and their direct determination in urine

Accumulation of selected cephalosporin antibiotics cefazolin, cefotaxime, cefuroxime and ceftriaxone on hanging mercury drop electrode was studied. The effects of supporting electrolyte composition, pH, accumulation potential and time were examined and corresponding analytical parameters were established employing linear sweep (staircase) or differential pulse voltammetric detection. Britton-Robinson buffer of pH 4.0 for ceftriaxone and acetate buffer in the pH range 3.6–5.0 for the other three compounds were found to be the best media. Calibration curves were linear from micromolar down to nanomolar range with limits of detection 2 × 10^–9 moll^–1, 1 × 10^–9 moll^–1, 5 × 10^–10 moll^–1 and 5 × 10^–9 moll^–1 for cefazolin, cefotaxime, cefuroxime and ceftriaxone respectively, applying the accumulation times of 5 to 14 min. Direct and simple determination of cefazolin as a model compound in urine was established with no other manipulation of urine sample than dilution 1 + 500 with buffer and subsequent adsorptive stripping voltammetric determination. The detection limit of the method is 7 gml^–1 (1.5 × 10^–5 moll^–1) of cefazolin in urine, and the relative standard deviation of 9 measurements was found to be 2.8% at 23 gml^–1 of cefazolin in urine. Similar values were found for other three compounds as well. These values are comparable or even better than those obtained by high performance liquid Chromatographic methods and approve the suitability of the proposed method for urine level monitoring in clinical practice and pharmacological studies.     

Mode coupling approximation in a model of structural phase transitions with infinite range interaction

The long-time value of the displacement-displacement correlation function and the mean square displacements are calculated within the ⁴-lattice model with infinite range interaction by use of a mode coupling approximation. Their temperature dependence is compared with exact results. While the mean square displacements (zero decoupling times) agree with exact results except the low temperature range for weak coupling, the long time correlations from MCA (infinite decoupling times) are wrong. Even a separation of the displacement function into two parts representing the two different time scales is of no use since the distribution function doesn't separate.     

Note on inscribability of quadrangular polyhedra with restricted number of edge-types

Necessary and sufficient conditions are being found for a quadrangular convex polyhedron Pwith two types of edges and containing vertices of valencies 5to have the following property: There exists a polyhedron P'combinatorially isomorphic to Pand a sphere containing all vertices of P'.Dedicated to Branko Grünbaum on the occasion of his 60th birthday.     

Dramatically Enhanced Solubility of Halide‐Containing Organometallic Species in Diiodomethane: The Role of Solvent⋅⋅⋅Complex Halogen Bonding

In the current study, we evaluated the solubility of a number of organometallic species and showed that it is noticeably improved in diiodomethane when compared to other haloalkane solvents. The better solvation properties of CH₂I₂ were associated with the substantially better σ‐hole‐donating ability of this solvent, which results in the formation of uniquely strong solvent–(metal complex) halogen bonding. The strength of the halogen bonding is attenuated by the introduction of additional halogen atoms in the organometallic species owing to the competitive formation of more favourable intermolecular complex–complex halogen bonding. The exceptional solvation properties of diiodomethane and its inertness towards organometallic species make this solvent a good candidate for NMR studies, in particular, for the acquisition of spectra of insensitive spins.     

Free electron transfer from xanthenyl- and fluorenylsilanes (Me3 or Ph3) to parent solvent radical cations: effects of molecule dynamics

Parent radical cations of nonpolar solvents (alkanes and alkyl chlorides) ionize 9-(trimethylsilyl)xanthenes and 9-(trimethylsilyl)fluorenes in a diffusion-controlled electron transfer. The actual electron jump as the deciding part of the process does not require a defined encounter complex, and therefore the reactants are not subjected to any geometry optimization. Considering the molecule dynamics of the donors, bending motions of the silyl group are concerted with fluctuations of the highest occupied molecular orbital electrons. Ionizing such a standing conformer mixture creates metastable (microsecond) as well as dissociative donor radical cations. A mobility restriction of the benzylic silane group in positions vertical to the phenyl plane stabilizes the radical cations and accounts for a declining amount of dissociative radical cations, which undergo C-Si bond fragmentation in the order benzylsilane > xanthenylsilane > fluorenylsilane.